


Together

by Ghelik



Series: The 100 Fics [42]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Best Friends, F/M, Friends With Benefits, Male-Female Friendship, Platonic Kissing, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-27
Updated: 2018-02-27
Packaged: 2019-03-24 18:15:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13816722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghelik/pseuds/Ghelik
Summary: They don't know when their friendship began, but they know they're better together than they're apart.





	Together

**Author's Note:**

> You know how there's this post about ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir in which they explain they aren't a couple, but will sometimes exchange "platonic kisses on the lips" after practice...  
> Yeah... If that isn't bellarke, I don't know what is.

Bellamy isn’t sure when he became friends with Clarke Griffin. Their co-leadership began with Atom’s death; that’s when Bellamy started trusting Clarke’s decision making, but that doesn’t mean they necessarily liked each other at the time.

 

The point still stands. Somewhere along the line, they became friends. And friends don’t let each other sleep in the mud after a storm tears their tent to pieces.

 

“You sure you don’t mind?” asks Clarke, setting her small backpack on the extra cot on the other side of Bellamy’s tent. “Where will you hook up?”

 

Bellamy deadpans: “I’ll survive.” And it's settled.

 

It turns out sharing living space is convenient as well. Now they don’t have to stay in the drafty dropship well into the night discussing strategy. They can make plans while still in bed.

 

When winter rolls in, and they haven’t built enough shelters to fit all the delinquents, Clarke and Bellamy stay in their tent shivering in their respective corners until Clarke decides she isn’t ready to die of hypothermia for the sake of modesty. She piles her blankets on top of his bed, sliding in next to him. Bellamy grumbles that her feet are freezing. They lie awkwardly side-by-side for a total of ten seconds before he turns his back on her and falls asleep.

 

That night Clarke wakes up several times as usual. But, for the first time in months, Bellamy sleeps like a rock. Over the course of the next few weeks, whenever Clarke wakes up, Bellamy’s always sleeping and always touching her: either her head, her shoulder, her arm, or her feet. It’s no secret that Bellamy is a very tactile guy, but he seems to sleep best whenever he’s touching somebody else, aka. Clarke. It soothes her, too, the soft press of his skin against her, guiding her back to sleep.

 

Usually, they sleep back-to-back, pressed together from shoulder to hip, her feet tangled between his knees. Then, one night, Clarke wakes from a nightmare and finds herself enveloped in Bellamy’s strong arms, pressed flush against his chest. He’s mumbling soothingly against the base of her neck. It takes her a few heartbeats to notice that he’s still sleeping. Clarke’s half asleep when it occurs to her: Bellamy must have spent his entire life sharing a bed with Octavia. He must have dealt with thousands of nightmares over the years. So much so, he knows what to do even in his sleep.

 

The thought makes her curl against his chest, clutching his arm against her belly. She has never felt so safe in her life and is glad that her mere presence helps him, too.

 

Next morning, when they wake up, Bellamy’s arm is still thrown over her middle. They don’t comment on it, neither that day nor when it inevitably happens again. Why should they?

 

Clarke discovers she likes cuddling. Likes being held while she sleeps and loves holding him in return.

 

At some point it becomes a routine: they lie in bed, him in her arms nuzzling against her shoulder, her carding her fingers through his hair, and gossip in hushed voices until they fall asleep. It helps them keep a level head during the day. Clarke wakes up more relaxed, and her body seems to settle, she eats more regularly instead of a bite here and there; she can think more clearly, is more efficient and… happier. Bellamy seems better, too. He’s quicker to smile; his shoulders are more relaxed, goes easier on the delinquents that form his hunting and guard squads.

 

So there is no reason why they should stop with their cuddling and sleeping together when winter turns to spring.

 

 

The snow melts, and they are summoned to Polis, the grounder capital, to meet the ominous “Commander” who might or might not help them make peace with the grounders once and for all. Polis is a beautiful city: vibrant and colorful, the marketplace that puts the Ark’s Exchange to shame, the tower reminds Bellamy of all the fairytales he told Octavia growing up. On the tower’s highest floor the Commander – Heda – turns out to be a young woman, probably one or two years younger than him. She’s draped menacingly over a throne made of twisted wood that looks like antlers. The audience goes better than Bellamy had expected. By now he and Clarke are used to being in charge together, presenting a united front and arguing their case until Heda agrees to mediate in the peace-talks between them and trikru’s leader, Indra.

 

Heda gives them separate rooms in her tower. It’s the most lavish and beautiful room Bellamy has ever set foot in. Furnished with sturdy wooden chests and cabinets, it has a fur bed so soft he feels like he’s laying on a cloud. Even though Bellamy's comfortable, he cannot sleep. Every time he closes his eyes and feels the vast expanse of fur and linen around him, he’s back at the Ark, seeing his mom gasp one last time as the airlock doors swish open. Sees Octavia’s tearstained face begging him to take her back _home_. With a grunt, Bellamy sits up. He wanders around the room trying to tire himself out, but, even though he’s tired, when he lies down, his heart hammers against his ribs. At some point, the leader gives up and slips out of the room to find Clarke’s. She’s nearly asleep when he pads softly to her. The blonde stirs slightly, opens one sleepy blue eye and pushes the covers back for him to climb in.

 

Bellamy settles beside her, trying to calm down, but he’s still too wound up with everything that’s happening, too nervous with the oncoming negotiations that could mean everything for the survival of the hundred, haunted by his own demons.

 

“You’re thinking too loudly,” grumbles Clarke scooting closer. Frowns her cute ‘angry kitten’ face at him and pecks him on the lips before collapsing heavily on his chest. “Go to sleep, Bellamy.”

 

He smiles and turns to the side. Clarke is nearly asleep when she molds her body against his back, holding him in her pale arms. It still takes him a while to drift off, but now he feels safe.

 

Neither mentions the kiss. Or the one he gives her after a long and tiring day of negotiating with Indra.

 

 

They stay in Polis for a whole week. When they return to the dropship, they have a treaty and two horses as a gift: a two-headed one Clarke instantly falls in love with, and a black monstrosity for Bellamy. He calls the black beast Cicero and is sure it wants to kill him.

 

Clarke and Bellamy gather the delinquents on the square in front of the Dropship and show the dark brands on their forearms. They’re painful and ugly but will ensure that grounders won’t pick them off anymore, at least not without retaliation from Polis and their trikru neighbors. The delinquents are part of the grounder coalition. 

 

And so the dropship camp prospers. They plant corn and start trading with trikru villages. Lincoln teaches them the language; Raven builds radios, Miller’s hunting party makes friends with the hunters of a town a few miles up north.

 

Pretty much all of the delinquents have upgraded their living quarters into small wood-and-fur huts by the time summer starts. All but Clarke and Bellamy have stopped living in parachute-tarp tents.

 

In the shade of their longhouse, the co-leaders discuss whether to prioritize the construction of another hut for themselves or concentrate on expanding the perimeter of the wall surrounding camp when the Ark decides to fall from the sky.

 

Clarke and Bellamy stand side by side, watching their past hurling through the sky. “Please don’t land on anyone,” mumbles Bellamy beside him and she has to smile.

 

“Seems like our hut will have to wait.”

 

Bellamy shudders with dread.

 

This will undoubtedly change life for the delinquents. Rules, treaties, and interests will change.

 

Clarke twines her fingers with his, squeezing his hand to get his attention.

 

The ground shakes violently with the landing of the Ark. Throwing her against his chest. 

"Hey," she smiles up at him “Whatever comes. We are in this together.”

 

Bellamy nods, puts his arm around her shoulders, pulling his best friend against his chest, drawing comfort from her nearness. He nods in agreement. “Together.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> As always this was unbetad.  
> Thank you so much for reading and commenting


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